Linear chip pusher

ABSTRACT

A linear chip pusher for dispensing food items, such as potato chips, from a container is disposed within the bottom end of the container and includes a ram that is linearly slidable through the cavity of the container for pushing potato chips out from the opening at the egress end of the container and a rod attachable to the ram and manually gripped by the individual to facilitate pushing the ram through the cavity of the container in a linear and controlled manner so that the potato chips can be sequentially dispensed from the opening of the container in the desired quantity for consumption.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to food dispensing devices, and moreparticularly pertains to a manual device for pushing food items stackedwithin a container out of the container.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Food items are packaged, stored, and dispensed from bottles, boxes,cans, and containers in a variety of ways. Plastic condiment bottles aresqueezed to dispense the condiment (generally ketchup or mustard) from anozzle while the dispensing of pills, for example, from a pill bottle,requires one to simultaneously press down on, and rotate, the lid todispense pills therefrom. Some types of containers, such as fordetergent soap, salt and pepper, and pet food, include a pivotal chuteon the side of the container and which is openable to dispense the fooditems and products therefrom and closable for storage. And, of course,the pop-top opener is now the ubiquitous opening mechanism for allmanner of aluminum beverage containers and cans.

One of the most popular dessert, snack, and picnic food items is thevenerable potato chip, and while potato chips generally are packaged inplastic bags that once opened are not resealable in an efficient manner,a popular alternative is to package potato chips in elongatedcylindrical containers or cans. The potato chips are nested together ina stacked contiguous arrangement within the cylindrical container andone end of the container includes a removable lid from which the potatochips are dispensed.

However, the diameter of the containers is such that one's fingerscannot gain easy access to the potato chips and therefore the commonmethod of dispensing the potato chips is to upend the container and dumpthe chips into one's open hand or upon a floor, table, counter top, orplate. This has the undesired consequence of spilling out more potatochips than desired, and also—if this is done on a carpetedfloor—spilling bits and crumbs of potato chips on the surface. Thus, amore efficient way to dispense potato chips from a container in acontrolled and clean manner is a desirable goal.

For example, the Raccaforte patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,456) discloses adispensing carton for dispensing small candles, and which includes anupper portion having a sliding tab that is slid for uncoveringdispensing holes through which the candles are removed.

The Leibetseder et al. patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,379) discloses aprocess of packaging stacks wherein the stacks consist of nested cuplikeobjects with the objects having the form of elongate objects so that thestacks are fed into the container for processing.

The Gordon et al. patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,682) discloses apaperboard container having a recloseable lid and the lid includes a tabthat is manually gripped for opening the container.

The Gibbons et al. patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,431) discloses an oxygenimpermeable leak free container having a number of contiguous barrierlayers each of which is composed of a polymer material.

The O'Brien patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,419,442 B1) discloses an apparatusfor stacking articles, such as video cassette or CD containers, in aside-by-side configuration, with the apparatus including a transferlocation, a pusher device, a support platform, a hold-back member, astack pusher assembly, and an outfeed conveyor assembly.

The Stewart et al. patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,471,122 B1) discloses apaperboard container for dispensing items stored therein and which ismovable between a sealed orientation and an open dispensing orientation.

Nonetheless, despite the ingenuity of the above devices, there remains aneed for a manually operable device that easily and efficientlydispenses food items from a container without damaging the food itemsduring the dispensing thereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprehends a manually operable device fordispensing food items, and especially potato chips, from an elongated,generally cylindrical, can or container. The container includes a bottomend and an upper or egress end having an opening. The bottom end issealed off with a removable freshness seal and a removable lid seals theegress end. The container defines an interior cavity where the fooditems, such as the potato chips, are contained in a nested contiguousarrangement for dispensing therefrom in a sequential manner startingwith the potato chips adjacent the opening at the egress end.

The potato chip dispensing device includes a linear chip pusher that isdisposed within the container at the bottom end thereof. A freshnessseal closes off the ram or pusher of the linear chip pusher from theexterior environment until one wants to open the container fordispensing and consuming potato chips. The ram includes an outer end,and the outer end is further defined by at least four inverted bodyportions that inwardly taper to a blind hole. The individual inserts therod into the blind hole after the freshness seal is removed, thenremoves the lid at the egress end and slowly begins to push the ramthrough the cavity of the container, and as the ram linearly movesthrough the cavity potato chips are sequentially dispensed from theegress end for consumption.

It is an objective of the present invention to provide a linear chippusher for dispensing food items from a container wherein the linearchip pusher is disposed at the bottom end of the container for the fooditems;

It is another objective of the present invention to provide a linearchip pusher for dispensing food items from a container that simplifiesthe act of dispensing and eating food items, such as potato chips, fromthe container;

It is still yet another objective of the present invention to provide alinear chip pusher for dispensing food items that allows for easy accessto food items located at the bottom end of the container;

Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a linearchip pusher that eliminates the need to dump the food items out of thecontainer thereby spilling crumbs and causing the food items to breakinto pieces as they are dumped out of the container; and

Still yet another objective of the present invention is to provide alinear chip pusher that can be configured to dispense food items, suchas potato chips, stored in square or rectangular-shaped cans andcontainers.

These and other objects, features, and advantages will become apparentto those skilled in the art upon a perusal of the following detaileddescription read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figuresand appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the linear chip pusher of the presentinvention illustrating a representative cylindrical container for fooditems such as potato chips, and the rod for attachment to the ram of thelinear chip pusher;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the linear chip pusher of the presentinvention illustrating the removal of the lid and the freshness seal sothat the linear chip pusher can be accessed for dispensing food itemssuch as potato chips;

FIG. 2 a is a perspective view of the linear chip pusher of the presentinvention illustrating an alternative embodiment for the freshness sealwherein the freshness seal includes a centrally located perforated coverthat can be punctured for allowing insertion of the stem into the ramwithout removal of the freshness seal;

FIG. 3 is an assembly view of the linear chip pusher of the presentinvention illustrating the alignment of the linear chip pusher with thebottom end of the container prior to disposition therein adjacent thebottom end;

FIG. 4 is side elevational view of the linear chip pusher of the presentinvention illustrating the pusher or ram of the linear chip pusher;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the linear chip pusher of the presentinvention illustrating the configuration of the pusher and the blindhole of the pusher into which the stem is inserted;

FIG. 6 is a sectioned elevational view of the linear chip pusher of thepresent invention illustrating the disposition of the linear chip pusherwithin the container at the bottom end; and

FIG. 7 is a sectioned elevational view of the linear chip pusher of thepresent invention illustrating the disposition of the linear chip pusherwithin the container as the ram moves through the cavity of thecontainer for ejecting and dispensing several chips from the opening atthe egress end of the container.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Illustrated in FIGS. 1-7 is a food product or food item dispensingdevice disposed within a container or can for dispensing food items orproducts in a controlled and efficient manner therefrom in order toeliminate the haphazard discharge of the items or products or thespilling of the items and products on the floor, ground, counter top,picnic table, etc. creating the consequent mess of broken and damagedfood items and scattering of the crumbs. While the foodproduct-dispensing device of the present invention is adaptable fordispensing various food items/products, it is particularly suited fordispensing potato chips that are stored and packaged in some type oflinear stacked configuration or arrangement.

Thus, shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 6, and 7, is an elongated cylindrical can orcontainer 10 having a continuous outer wall surface 12 and a continuousinterior wall surface 14. The cylindrical container 10 includes anegress end 16 and an opposite bottom end 18, and the egress end 16 isfurther defined by an opening 20. Furthermore, an interior cavity 22extends from the bottom end 18 to the egress end 16 and registers withthe opening 20, and located within the interior cavity 22 are the fooditems, such as a plurality of potato chips 24, that are contiguouslystacked and nested together in a linear configuration or arrangementthat substantially fills the cavity 22 of the container 10. FIG. 7further shows several potato chips 24 being fully ejected and dispensedfrom the egress end 16 of the container 10. A removable lid 26 closesoff the opening 20 at the egress end 16 and a freshness seal 28 closesoff the cavity 22 of the container 10 at the bottom end 18. As shown inFIG. 2 a, the freshness seal 28 can include a perforated cover 30centrally located thereon that can be punctured to allow insertion ofelements hereinafter to be described.

Illustrated in FIGS. 3-7 is the food product or item dispensing devicethat is also referred to as a linear chip pusher 32. The linear chippusher 32 is disposed within the cavity 22 of the container 10 at thebottom end 18 thereof and further closes off the bottom end 18. Thelinear chip pusher 32 is located inboard or inside of the freshness seal28. The linear chip pusher 32 includes a generally cylindrical ram orpusher 34 having an outside diameter sized to snugly fit within theinterior wall surface 14 of the container 10. The ram or pusher 34includes a flat inner pushing end 36, and, in the preferred embodiment,it also includes a body portion further defined by a plurality of ribsor inverted body portions 38 that inwardly taper to and form a blindhole 40 centrally located on the exterior facing portion of the ram 34.As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the body portions or ribs 38 define an outerwall 42, and the body portions 38 have a draft to facilitate theslidable linear movement of the ram 34 through the cavity 22 of thecontainer 10 for dispensing potato chips 24 therefrom. It should benoted that the body portions 38 are in contact with the interior wallsurface 14 of the container 10 at all times thereby maintaining theposition of the ram 34 within the cavity 22 of the container 10. The ramor pusher 34 is preferably manufactured from plastic and one diameterfor the blind hole 40 is ¼ of an inch.

Illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7 is a rod or stem 44 that isinserted into the blind hole 40 and is manually gripped by theindividual and used to slidably move the ram 34 through the cavity 22for dispensing potato chips 24. The rod or stem 44 can be of wood orplastic, and may even be a plastic straw. A portion of the rod 44 willextend outwardly or externally from the bottom end 18 of the container10 to insure that the individual is able to manually grasp the rod 44even when the ram 34 has been pushed all the way to the egress end 16for dispensing the last remaining potato chips 24. If the freshness seal28 of FIG. 2 a were used to cover the bottom end 18, the rod 44 wouldfirst puncture the perforated cover 30—with the perforated cover 30being in axial alignment with the blind hole 40—for attachment to theblind hole 40.

In order to use the linear chip pusher 32 the individual would simplyremove the freshness seal 28 and insert the rod or stem 44 into theblind hole 40 of the ram 34. The individual would next remove the lid 26and then slowly push and slide the ram 34 through the cavity 22, and asthe ram 34 is pushed through the cavity 22, the ram 34 will contact thepotato chips 24 and force the chips 24, one at a time if the ram 34 ispushed very slowly, toward the egress end 16 and through the opening 20thereby making the potato chips 24 accessible for dispensing from thecontainer 10 and subsequent consumption. The length of the stem or rod44 will be substantially equal to the length of the container 10 toallow the ram 34 to be linearly pushed almost completely through thecavity 22 of the container 10 adjacent the egress end 16 in order toeject and dispense the last few potato chips 24 that would have beeninitially located at the bottom end 18 of the container 10. When theindividual is done dispensing the desired number of potato chips 24, theindividual can place the lid 26 back over the opening 20 and withdrawthe stem 44 leaving the ram 34 in position within the cavity 22 of thecontainer 10. Thus, the ram 34 and the stem 44 are coaxially alignedwith the cavity 22 of the container 10, and the nested potato chips 24,during the process of pushing the ram 34 through the container 10 fordispensing the potato chips 24.

It should be noted that while the ram 34 of the preferred embodiment hasa cylindrical configuration, the configuration of the ram 34 can bevaried to conform to and slidably move within and through containers orcans that are square, rectangular, oblong, etc. shaped. The specificconfiguration of the ram 34 would not affect its ability to push fooditems, such as potato chips 24, out of such containers.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed herein, andit should be understood that numerous modifications, alterations, andvariations are possible and practicable by those skilled in the artwhile still coming within the spirit of the invention and the scope ofthe invention as set forth in the appended claims.

1. A linear chip pusher for dispensing potato chips from a containerhaving a bottom end, an egress end, and a cavity wherein the potatochips are located, comprising: a ram disposed within the cavity of thecontainer at the bottom end; the ram having a centrally located hole andan inner pushing end and the ram capable of slidable linear movementwithin the cavity of the container; a rod insertable into the hole andextending externally from the egress end of the container; and whereuponthe rod is inserted into the hole so that the individual can grasp therod and push the ram within and through the cavity thereby causing theram to slide within the container with the inner pushing end contactingthe potato chips for sequentially ejecting the potato chips from theegress end and dispensing the potato chips from the container.
 2. Thelinear chip pusher of claim 1 wherein the ram includes a plurality ofribs which are in contact with the container during the dispensing ofpotato chips therefrom.
 3. The linear chip pusher of claim 2 wherein theram is manufactured from plastic.
 4. The linear chip pusher of claim 3wherein the ram and the rod are coaxially aligned with the cavity of thecontainer for dispensing potato chips from the container.
 5. The linearchip pusher of claim 4 wherein the ram is cylindrical-shaped.